The 5 Creepiest Coincidences in Movie Casting History

Anyone who's ever seen Tom Cruise play a samurai knows that casting isn't always the detail that's given the most attention when producing a film. But sometimes, casting choices that were made on a whim end up looking like they'd been planned since the beginning of time.

Here are five strange casting coincidences from famous movies ...

#5. John Lennon's Killer Portrays John Lennon

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In 1985, an actor named Mark Lindsay Chapman was cast to play John Lennon in the made-for-TV biopic John and Yoko: A Love Story. Just five short years earlier, John Lennon had been shot and killed in front of his NYC apartment building by a man named ... Rick Stephens.

No, we're joking. The guy's name was Mark David Chapman. And now some casting dipshit had hired a man with a damn near identical name to portray John Lennon in a movie. Luckily, a PR disaster was avoided when the offending Chapman was fired just days before production began.

It's cool, though, he found a different gig. Years later, Mark Lindsay Chapman played John Lennon in Chapter 27 ... a biopic about Mark David Chapman.

#4. When Dana Carvey Met Michael Myers

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Years before he found fame acting alongside Mike Myers in Wayne's World, Dana Carvey made his theatrical film debut with a very small bit part in Halloween II ... which, of course, is the story of a town being terrorized by a mad slasher named Michael Myers.

Wait, there's no way this is correct.

Oh, and in a coincidental tie-in between these first two entries: Mike Myers actually had an early bit part as a delivery boy in John and Yoko: A Love Story.

No. Definitely not right.

#3. The Godfather Predicts Robert De Niro's Two Oscar-Winning Roles

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During the assassination attempt on Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather, a poster can be seen in the background advertising a boxing match with Jake LaMotta. Robert De Niro would go on to win his two career Academy Awards playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II and Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. You can see the poster behind the fruit stand at the beginning of this clip.

#2. Two Generations of Potters Star in Woman in Black

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This past year, Daniel Radcliffe starred in a screen adaptation of Susan Hill's horror novel Woman in Black. If we're not mistaken, he played the woman. You know who else he played? Harry Potter.

As for Woman in Black, the novel had previously been adapted into a 1989 made-for-TV movie where Radcliffe's character, Arthur, was played by Adrian Rawlins ... the same actor who would go on to play Harry Potter's father. Spooooooooky!

#1. Elvis' Last Role Predicts Future Director of His Biopic

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In 1979, John Carpenter directed a made-for-TV biopic about Elvis Presley. Fittingly, he called it Elvis.

Ten years before this, Elvis Presley had made his very last acting appearance in a movie called Change of Habit. The name of his character in that film? John Carpenter.

Also, we guess you could say it's a coincidence that Elvis' last acting role was in a movie called Change of Habit and then he died because he refused to change his habits, but you'd be kind of a dick for pointing that out.